Gerard: Lijiang is touted as one of China's premier heritage areas and has a World Heritage designation to prove it. Undoubtedly the town is beautiful, with the distinctive architecture of the region on show, but it is not very authentically 'ancient'. In ...

... 1996 earthquake and resulting reconstruction emphasised low-rise single-family dwellings of traditional style, eventually culminating in the oldtown receiving UNESCO World Heritage status, and the resulting tourism boom which now threatens to turn the ...

... to take some bikes to visit this nice valley's little villages... But we got lost in the streets of this wonderful city of Lijiang ! Actually it looks sooo much nicer in the morning, when all the shops are close and no Chinese tourists in the streets.. ...